The detective looked me over. "Lady Liberty?"
I pursed my lips and shook my head. "Try again."
He frowned. "I would, but I've got more important things to talk about with you. I instructed you to wait at the motel."
"Our furniture was getting lonely, so we came home." I stepped aside. "Won't you come in and saw hello to the living room furniture?"
Orion sat up as we walked into the living room. He nodded at Ambigo. "What's up?"
Ambigo stopped at the foot of the couch. "I don't know if Miss Lyal here has told you what happened-"
"Bits and pieces," he admitted.
Ambigo pursed his lips. "She says the woman who was at the cemetery was Bertha Aude. Can you confirm that?"
Orion wrinkled his nose. "I'm sorry I can't help you, Ambigo, but I really don't remember who was kneeling there."
"That's what we need to ask her, and seeing as how Miss Lyal is the only witness-"
"Reliable witness," I corrected him.
He barely broke stride. "Seeing as how she's the only witness to Bertha being there, she needs to come with me to Bertha's house to confirm her identification."
Orion stood and grimaced. "Mind if I go with you?"
"I do," I spoke up. I rounded the side of the couch and pushed him back onto the cushion. "You had your soul nearly shoved out of you. I think that's a desperate cry for rest."
Ambigo arched his eyebrow and studied Orion. "Bentley told me at the motel that he wouldn't have any more problems until sunset. I'd like to test that theory."
Orion grinned at me. "See? He needs a guinea pig. We can't let the police down."
I glared at him. "I think it's about time the police were disappointed."
Ambigo coughed into his fist. "I hate to interrupt your interesting conversation, but both of you are coming with me."
Orion shrugged. "You heard the officer."
I pursed my lips, but stepped back so Orion could stand. He stood on his shaky legs and swayed side-to-side. I caught him and threw his arm over my shoulder.
He winked at me. "See? I'm fine."
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. As lively as a graveyard."
CHAPTER 14
We got into Ambigo's car and he drove us to to the northwest corner of the town. A white steeple church stood off the road, separated from the street by a white-gravel parking lot. One side of the church was a large green grass field with plastic playground toys. The rear and other side were covered in small gray tombstones. That was the new graveyard.
Set in the back at the edge of the playground grass was a small cottage. Beds of flowers surrounded the white cottage. A gravel path ran along the right side of the church and changed into a row of stones that reached to the front door. That was the priest's home.
Ambigo parked the car in the gravel parking lot. We stepped out and followed Ambigo down the path to the door. He knocked and waited.
A pair of feet shuffled to the door and opened the entrance. An elderly man in a black bath robe stood on the other side. He looked over all our faces. "Yes? Can I help you?"
Ambigo cleared his throat and held out his badge. "I'm sorry to disturb you so early, Mr. Aude, but I'm currently assisting the police on an investigation."
Aude smiled. "Indeed? Congratulations on joining our fine police force." Orion wrapped his arm around me and hugged me close to his chest to stifle my snort. Aude continued without a hitch. "What can I do to help the officers?"
Ambigo looked past him and into the cottage. "We need to speak to your wife."
Aude furrowed his brow. "Bertha? But she's not even up yet."
"It's very important," Ambigo insisted.
Aude frowned, but stepped aside. "All right. Please come in and wait a moment while I get her."
We stepped into the comfortable little home. There was a small living room with a rock-stone chimney on the right-hand wall. To our left lay a nook dining room with a kitchen. In front of us was a hall that led to three doors at the rear of the house.
We settled ourselves in the living room furniture while Aude disappeared down the hall. I heard the faint murmurs of voices. Soon two sets of footsteps shuffled down the hallway. Aude appeared in the doorway with a elderly woman at his side. She was dressed in a flowered dress similar to the one she wore yesterday.
My eyes widened. I stood and nodded at the woman. "That's her."
The woman stared at me for a moment before she glanced at her husband. "Connor, what's going on?"
Aude looked at Ambigo. "Mr. Ambigo, we'd like some answers."
Ambigo stood and gestured to me. "This young woman says she saw Bertha at the graveyard last night."
Aude chuckled and clasped his wife's hands in his. "We manage the dead as well as the living, Mr. Ambigo. My wife was probably just attending to some flowers left by a grieving relative."
Ambigo shook his head. "It was in the old graveyard where Miss Lyal witnessed your wife burning an incense candle in front of one of the old willows."
Aude's bushy eyebrows crashed down. "Mr. Ambigo, my wife does nothing of the-"
"Connor," Mrs. Aude whispered. He glanced down at her smiling face. "I was there last night."
His jaw dropped to the floor. "What? But why?"
She sighed and turned her attention to us. "Every year for-well, for a very long time, I've placed a lit candle beneath that tree."
"A pumpkin-spice candle," I added.
She nodded. "Yes. It's to remember an old friend." She looked at the floor and shook his head. "It's what little I can do for him."
"How long ago did this friend disappear?" Ambigo questioned her.
Bertha shook herself from her thoughts and raised her head. "Many decades ago." She furrowed her brow. "But why do you ask?"
Ambigo pursed his lips. "There was a search done around the old willow tree where you place the candle. A hole was found in the trunk, and inside the trunk was a skeleton."
Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my god."
Mr. Aude's voice was a little higher pitched than usual. "Human?"
Ambigo nodded. "Most definitely." He looked to Bertha. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to take you down to the station for some questioning."
She hung her head and nodded. "I'll go."
Her husband's face fell. "Bertha. . ."
Bertha lifted her head and smiled at him. She gave his hands a tight squeeze. "Don't be worried. I'll explain everything when I come back."
"I'll go with you," he insisted.
She shook her head. "No. Let me face this without dragging you and the beautiful name you gave me through the mud."
"But-" She pressed her finger to his lips.
Her eyes looked into his. "Please don't come with me to the station. Let me protect you for a little while."
Aude pursed his lips, but nodded. He turned his attention to Ambigo. "Will this take long?"
Ambigo shrugged. "That depends on how much your wife has to tell."
She shook her head. "Not long."
Ambigo stepped up to her and gestured to the door. "Then let's get this done so we can get you back home, Bertha."
Ambigo led our group out the door. Bertha looked behind us and waved. I glanced over my shoulder. The old minister remained in the doorway of the tiny cottage. He clutched the door frame and raised his other gnarled hand to return the wave.
We got into Ambigo's car with Bertha in the front passenger seat. It was a quick drive to the station. The town still slumbered in the early morning light.
Ambigo helped Bertha up the stairs and through the doors. He made eye-contact with the front desk clerk and jerked his head at us. "We need statements from these two. Could you get those while I speak with Mrs. Aude?"
The officer stood and nodded. "I'd be glad-"
"I'd like them to hear what I have to say," Bertha spoke up.
Ambigo arched an eyebrow, but nodded. The officer backed away and we were led into the bowels of the police department to Ambigo's office. Berth
a got the chair. Orion and I were offered the wall. We stood by the door as Ambigo took his seat
Bertha cleared her throat and began her tale. "My story begins some sixty-eight years ago. I was born in this town, as most of you know, and grew up in a rather sheltered life. My family owned one of the farms, the own closest to town that adjoined the old graveyard. My father was part-time caretaker of the tombs and grounds." She smiled. "It was there that I first met William Mallory."
Orion and I stood at attention. Ambigo glanced at us, but said nothing.
"He was a handsome young man from the outside world. An orphan who was led here by the Tree after he was scratched by a werewolf." She leaned back and sighed. "We had such fun together. I showed him our strange world and he told me about the world outside of Apple Hollow. Television, huge farm machinery that could till thousands of acres." She chuckled. "He even introduced me to the latest music with a few records he'd brought. Mr. Leto-that would be Mike's father-owned the drug store like Mike does now and he had a record player he'd purchased through a traveling salesman. The three of us would listen for hours to those records."
"William was the one to disappear sixty-five years ago, wasn't he?" Ambigo asked her.
Her face fell and she nodded. "Yes. It was Halloween night. I was to help with the school Halloween party. Bill-William, that is-wanted me to go with him to another party. I told him I couldn't." She grasped her bag tightly in her shaking hands. "We had an argument and didn't part on the best of terms, and then he-" she took a deep breath, "-he disappeared. He was never found, and nobody heard from him again."
Ambigo arched an eyebrow. "Was your disagreement put into a police report?"
Bertha smiled and shook her head. "The police held the case as a runaway, and left it at that."
"Where was he staying at the time he disappeared?"
Bertha furrowed her brow. "I'm not really sure. He did odd jobs to earn a living, and many times he helped the Librarian with organizing the books at the library. He was very smart, but prone to losing interest in the day-to-day chores of farming." She chuckled. "I suppose that's why he convinced Father to buy the farm machinery. He-" She stopped and shook her head. "But that's not important." She raised her eyes to Ambigo. "I believe you said there was a skeleton found in the graveyard near where I put Bill's memorial."
Ambigo nodded. "Yes. Inside the large willow tree where you placed your candles. Can you explain how it came to be there?"
She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I can't."
"Do you think it's William?" Ambigo asked her.
A few loose tears slipped from her shut eyes. Her body trembled. "I. . .I don't know." She opened her eyes and looked up at the detective. "I really don't know."
Ambigo pursed his lips. "All right. Is there anything you want to add to your statement?"
She shook her head. "No. That's all."
He walked around the desk and pulled her chair out. "Then I'll drive you home. Mr. Aude's probably tired of praying for your safe return."
She smiled and stood. "No, Scott. Connor knows I always keep my word." She turned toward the door, but her eyes flickered to me as she passed by. "Always."
"Then let's not keep him waiting," Ambigo insisted. He paused in the doorway and turned to us. "Well? What are you two waiting for? You can walk home."
I glared at him. "Is that any way to treat the press?"
He grinned. "Show me some credentials and I'll think about it. And don't leave town." He led Bertha down the hall.
I glanced at Orion and jerked my head at the two disappearing figures. "So what do you think of her story?"
Orion shrugged and led me out of the office. "I'm not really sure."
There was a long silence between us until we made it outside the station. We turned to the left toward home. I leaned close to him. "Did you feel any spirit vibes when she was telling us what happened?"
He furrowed his brow. "I felt something, but it was more like a feeling. The kind I get when I have to watch one of those dumb romantic movies where everything is taken the wrong way and the dog ends up the hero."
I snorted. "I think you just mixed up Lassie with a modern comedy."
He grinned. "I hope Lassie always got the girl."
"Lassie was the girl," I told him.
He glanced down at me and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Really. Now could you translate this feeling into intelligent thought?" I persisted.
He shrugged. "I guess if I had to describe it without a dog I'd say it's like listening to an uncomfortable conversation. Like having your dad explain the birds and the bees to you, or those dreams where you know something's behind you and you don't want to look-"
"Or like somebody walked across your grave?" I guessed.
He stopped walking and frowned. I turned to face him and couldn't help but notice his pale skin. "Actually, I think that's it. It was sort of like listening to my own funeral."
"But this wasn't your funeral, and it wasn't your emotion," I reminded him.
His shoulders fell along with his face. "Don't remind me."
I slapped his shoulder and smiled. "Come on, junior reporter, where's your gumph gone?"
He grinned. "It might come back if you make me your partner."
I shrugged. "Maybe after this is all over. If we don't end up like Mallory."
He looked down at me and frowned. "So that's what you're getting at."
I smiled. "Do you have a better explanation of how a guy managed to get himself into a tree, close up the entrance so well, and somehow die?"
"It could be suicide," he suggested.
I snorted and shook my head. "No way. He had a ring on his finger. His ring finger."
Orion raised an eyebrow. "He was married?"
"Or going to be," I added.
Orion pursed his lips and stared straight ahead. "This is serious."
I glanced at my watch. "I'll say. I'm covered in filth and it's way past my bedtime." A cold wind blew past us as the town came alive. "Let's get going before I catch my death of cold."
CHAPTER 15
We soon arrived at his house and slipped inside. Orion turned to me with a grin and wagged his eyebrows. "So what do you say we have some fun?"
I snorted. "I'm not kinky enough to want to do two guys who are in the same body again."
His shoulders drooped. "But I'm not sleepy."
I pressed my palms against his back and pushed him toward the living room. "Then you get to sit on the couch and pretend to rest while I get us some cocoa. Don't move or you're demoted again."
"Isn't there some union rule against demoting without just cause?" he argued as we reached the couch.
I shoved him onto one of the cushions and glared down at him. "Attempt to unionize against me and I'll split our union. And stay put!"
I marched off. He turned around on the couch and leaned over the back. "It was only a joke!"
I reached the counter and leaned backward. "You'd better be sitting straight on that couch, young man."
A sly grin slipped onto his lips. "But I'm bored, Mom. Can't we have some fun?"
"Not until you study, and that means that folder in front of you," I told him. I tossed the folder into his lap and strode into the kitchen. "And I want to hear paper's rustling in there!" There was a flurry of flapping paper noise from the couch.
I grinned and went about preparing the cocoa until Orion's voice called to me. "Trix?"
I paused and frowned. "Did you just call me a breakfast cereal?"
"Yeah, but your bunny butt didn't happen to find anything while I was knocked out, did you?"
I raised an eyebrow. "You mean besides a pile of candles and a skeleton?"
"Like this letter."
I set the cocoa material down and walked over to the couch. "What letter?"
Orion sat up with the folder open in his lap. He held a yellowed slip of paper. I plopped myself on the cushion beside him and he handed me the note. "This letter." br />
I broached the contents:
October 24th
Dear Bill,
I wish to speak to you about that matter. Meet me at our favorite spot under the willow tree tomorrow night.
Your love, Bertha
I glanced at Orion and raised the note. "And you just found this lying in there?"
He nodded. "Near the top."
"And you're sure it wasn't in there before?"
"Are you doubting your junior reporter?"
I returned my attention to the note and pursed my lips. "I'm doubting a lot of things right now, like if dear old Bertha told us everything she knew."
Orion stood and smiled down at me. "So do we return to the scene of the crime, or pay a house call?"
I lifted the note to my face and furrowed my brow. "Definitely a house call, but doesn't this handwriting look familiar?"
I handed the note back to him. He studied the contents and frowned. "You know, I think you're right. One sec." He stood, but I grabbed one of his belt loops on his jeans and yanked him back onto the couch.
"You sit, I'll search," I insisted.
"I was going to get the letter the tickets came in. It's on the kitchen counter," he told me.
"Then I'll be right back." I jumped up and snatched the envelope, then made a hurried retreat back to the couch.
Orion took the envelope and held the letter and envelope side-by-side between us. We turned our heads left and right.
"What do you think?" I asked him.
"A perfect match," he replied. He pointed at a scrawling 'y.' "It's a little shaky on the longer letters on the envelope, but I'd stake my fangs that it's the same."
I leapt to my feet and grinned. "Are you ready for that house call, doctor?"
He smiled and stood. "Ready whenever you are, doctor."
Orion gathered the folder and its contents along with the envelope. I grabbed my coat and followed him out the front door. "At least we know we won't be waking them up."
A short drive found us at the gravel parking lot of the stately old church. The weak October sun glistened over the thick morning dew. We parked the car and walked down the neat path to the front door.
The soft murmur of voices floated through the entrance. I was in the lead and held up my hand for Orion to stop. He obeyed, and I tiptoed up to the door.